Kellan Lutz assists Bulgarian animal shelter while filming 'Hercules'

Actor joined other cast members in volunteering time and money to help a no-kill shelter stay afloat financially.

Longtime animal activist Kellan Lutz, along with some other cast members, took advantage of his only day off filming on the set of the new film "Hercules" to volunteer at a local no-kill shelter in Bulgaria.

The 28-year-old, with two adopted rescue pups of his own, told Yahoo! News that they were inspired to donate time after rescuing a stray dog near the film set.

“We found him wandering on the street in traffic. We took him home and then brought him here to Animal Rescue Sofia where he is now being brought back to life, back to health, and will find a happy home and never be abandoned again,” he said. “I love animals. The great thing about this facility is that they don’t turn any dogs away. The hard part is they are running out of funding.”

Animal Rescue Sofia, which has provided loving homes for over 2,300 dogs, is aiming to raise $300,000 to maintain its facilities and purchase a new larger farm for expansion.

"ARS is something special – we are an entirely Bulgarian organization on a volunteer basis that aims to put to work an exemplary model of work with stray dogs," writes ARS Chairlady Nadia Stancheva on the group's fundraising page. We are funded through donations only, the average being 10 Euros. We do not get any funding from the government, the EU, or international animal welfare organizations."

So far, the group has raised just over $112,000. For his part, Lutz created a video and posted a personal appeal to his Facebook page asking fans to consider helping out.

“After seeing the many stray dogs in Bulgaria, myself and the cast of ‘Hercules’ couldn’t stand by and not do something to help Animal Rescue Sofia. Please watch and share, team. Every action we take, no matter how small, helps in the greater good,” Lutz wrote.